In every community, the mother is often the first heartbeat, caregiver, and safe place. She is the builder of resilience, the source of nourishment, not just from her body, but from her soul. And yet for poor, unsheltered, and marginalized Black women, that heartbeat is too often silenced far too soon.

Maternal mortality is a national emergency hiding in plain sight. And for Black women—especially those on Medicaid, uninsured, displaced, or surviving trauma—it is a haunting reminder that systemic neglect can be fatal.

If the Mother Dies, the Children Disappear Too

Maternal death isn’t just a tragic statistic—it is a social rupture. When a young mother dies, her child’s risk of premature death, foster care placement, incarceration, and poverty increases dramatically. If the mother dies, her dreams die, her legacy halts, and the next generation’s foundation is shaken. We are not simply losing mothers; we are losing futures.

Micronutrient Deprivation, Medical Dismissal,

and the Quiet Violence of Neglect

Many mothers we serve are malnourished—not by choice, but by circumstance. Food deserts, trauma, and the cost of prenatal vitamins leave women depleted. We hear stories of mothers laboring in shelters, untreated for anemia, hypertension, or gestational diabetes. When Black women express pain, they are too often ignored or misdiagnosed. Racism in medicine shows up in silence—shrugged shoulders, missed follow-ups, and labels like ‘non-compliant’ instead of ‘unheard.’

A Care Coordination Crisis:

Where Policy Must Meet Compassion

Our work as a care coordination organization isn’t just about connecting the dots. It’s about holding the system accountable to the lives that fall between the cracks. We walk alongside women navigating pregnancy, homelessness, trauma, and survival. Our mobile outreach, risk screenings, transportation, and doula services are vital—but should not be heroic. They must be standard.

What Must Be Done

• Fund community-based maternal health navigators who are trusted, culturally aligned, and trauma-informed.
• Expand Medicaid postpartum coverage to a full year in every state, with wraparound services for housing, nutrition, and mental health.
• Prioritize prenatal micronutrient support through WIC, community kitchens, and supplement programs.
• Train all providers on racial bias, reproductive justice, and the unique psychosocial needs of women of color.
• Track maternal outcomes and tie incentives to equity, not just utilization metrics.

Hope, Justice, and the Right to Survive Birth

We believe that birthing should not be a game of survival. We believe that a mother’s life is sacred—that her joy, breath, and strength matter. If the mother dies, it is not just a personal tragedy, it is a communal one. It is a collapse of opportunity, a failure of public health, and an indictment of a healthcare system built without her in mind.

But if the mother lives—if she thrives, she becomes the wellspring from which communities are healed, children are nurtured, and cycles are broken.

We choose to fight for her.